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Algeria: Arrest and Beating of Human Rights Defender Mr Yacine Zaid

(SALEM) - In some parts of this world, there is no room for political resistance. The reward for placing a spotlight on government corruption in Algeria these days can be a viscous beating.

It has come to our attention that Mr. Yacine Zaid, a noted human rights defender in Algeria, was arrested and beaten severely on the morning of 1 October 2012, by three policemen in Ouargla.

It is no secret that Mr Yacine Zaid is President of the Laghouat section of the Ligue Algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’Homme – LADDH (Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights) and a participant in the 2011 Front Line Defenders Dublin Platform.

Our Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes, believe that the arbitrary arrest and beating of Mr Yacine Zaid was a direct result of his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights.

The authorities are likely stilll disturbed by Yacine Zaid’s peaceful sit-down protest in front of the Court of Sidi Mohamed in Algiers last April calling for the release of fellow human rights defender Mr Abdelkader Kherba, who has also been the subject of appeals.

I am William Nicholas Gomes,Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com

I came to know about the situation from Front Line Defenders.

On the morning of 1 October 2012, human rights defender Mr Yacine Zaid was arrested and brutally beaten by three policemen in Ouargla.

At the time of his arrest, he was travelling on a bus with Mr. Aibek Abdelmalek, a member of the Comité National pour la Défense des Droits des Chômeurs – CNDDC (National Committee for the Defence of the Rights of the Unemployed). At approximately 09:30 AM, three policemen in civilian attire forced them to disembark the bus and they proceeded to insult, interrogate and beat Mr Yacine Zaid, all whilst he was handcuffed. He was then placed in a white Nissan 4×4 and taken to an unknown location.

Mr Yacine Zaid is President of the Laghouat section of the Ligue Algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’Homme – LADDH (Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights) and a participant in the 2011 Front Line Defenders Dublin Platform.

I believe that the arbitrary arrest and beating of Mr Yacine Zaid were directly related to his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights. Yacine Zaid’s human rights work included a peaceful sit-down protest in front of the Court of Sidi Mohamed in Algiers last April calling for the release of fellow human rights defender Mr Abdelkader Kherba, who has also been the subject of appeals.

I urge the authorities in Algeria to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release Yacine Zaid, as it is believed that his arrest and detention are solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate human rights work;

2. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the arrest and beating of human rights defender Yacine Zaid, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

3. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Yacine Zaid;

4. Cease targeting all human rights defenders in Algeria and guarantee in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

Salem-News.com Human Rights Ambassador William Nicholas Gomes is a Bangladeshi journalist, human rights activist and author was born on 25 December, 1985 in Dhaka. As an investigative journalist he wrote widely for leading European and Asian media outlets.

He is also active in advocating for free and independent media and journalists’ rights, and is part of the free media movement, Global Independent Media Center – an activist media network for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate telling of the truth. He worked for Italian news agency Asianews.it from year 2009 to 2011, on that time he was accredited as a free lance journalist by the press information department of Bangladesh. During this time he has reported a notable numbers of reports for the news agency which were translated into Chinese and Italian and quoted by notable number of new outlets all over the world.He, ideologically, identifies himself deeply attached with anarchism. His political views are often characterized as “leftist” or “left-wing,” and he has described himself as an individualist anarchist.